» It is for US to respond to Musharraf's statements, not India: Shankar

It is for US to respond to Musharraf's statements, not India: Shankar

Published: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 11:42 [IST]

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Washington, Sep.16 (ANI): Indian Ambassador to the United States, Meera Shankar, has said it is for the US to look into the issue and respond to former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's recent disclosure regarding misuse of American military aid.

Shankar said the US should respond to the issue and not India.

"I don't know...we are not the ones who gave the aid to Pakistan. It's more for the government of the United States to see how they need to respond to this," Shankar said while responding to a question during an interactive session that followed her address to the Atlantic Council in Washington.

She, however, stressed on the need for a greater and more stringent accountability over assistance being provided to Pakistan by the US.

"We do feel that in the security field, the assistance should be more tightly focused on building counter-insurgency capability rather that conventional defense equipment which can be diverted for other purposes. And, of course, there may be need for greater accountability in terms of how this defense assistance is being used, The News quoted Shankar, as saying.

Commenting on India's involvement in Afghanistan, she said New Delhi does not want to involve itself in any security role in that country, but is pledged to continue working for development of the war ravaged country.

"We do not have any security role in Afghanistan nor do we seek one because we don't want to complicate the situation in reference to regional sensitivities. We do have a fairly significant development role and have committed over 1.2 billion dollars worth of developmental assistance to Afghanistan," Shankar added. (ANI)